Chapter 8 THE SADDLE AND SIDE-SADDLE.

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A side-saddle should have no right-hand pummel.-The leaping horn.-Surcingle.-Stirrup-leather.-Stirrup-iron.-Girthing.-To avoid riding on the buckles of the girths.

No right-hand pummel. A side-saddle should have no right-hand pummel; it is useless to the seat, and impedes the working of the right hand on the reins. The appearance when mounted is infinitely improved by the absence of it.

Leaping horn. The saddle should have what is called a third pummel, or leaping-horn. In case of any unusual motion of the horse, such as leaping, an ebullition of gaiety, or violence from any other cause, by pressing upwards with the front part above the left knee, and downwards with the back part above the right knee, a wonderfully strong grasp is obtained, much stronger than the grasp obtained by the mode in which men ride. This will be quite clear to you if, when sitting in your chair, you press your two knees together, and afterwards, by crossing them over, press them, one down and the other up. Besides this, when a man clasps his horse, however firmly it fixes the clasping parts, it has a tendency to raise the seat from the saddle. This is not the case with the clasp obtained in a side-saddle; and, for a tour de force, I find I am much stronger in a side-saddle than in my own. There is no danger in this third pummel, since there is not the danger of being thrown on it; more than this, it renders it next to impossible that the rider should be thrown against or upon the other pummels. In the case of the horse bucking, without the leaping-horn, there is nothing to prevent the lady from being thrown up; the right knee is thus disengaged from the pummel, and all hold lost. The leaping-horn prevents the left knee from being thrown up, and from that fulcrum great force may be employed to keep the right knee down in its proper place. If the horse, in violent action, throws himself suddenly to the left, the upper part of the rider's body will tend downwards to the right, the lower limbs upwards to the left. Nothing can counteract this but the bearing afforded by the leaping-horn. This tendency to over-balance to the right causes so many ladies to guard themselves against it by hanging off their saddles to the left. The leaping-horn is also of infinite use with a hard puller, or in riding down steep places; without it, in either case, there is nothing to prevent the lady from sliding forward. It has also the advantage that, should one rider like it, and another not, it is easily screwed on or taken off.

The saddle should be kept in its place by the elastic webbing girths, and not, as the common error is-probably from the facility of tightening it-by the hard, unyielding, leather surcingle. Surcingle. The use of this surcingle is to prevent the small flap on the off side from turning up, and the large flap on the off side from being blown about with wind; and it should not be drawn tighter than is sufficient for these purposes. The part coming from the near side should not be attached, as at present, to the small flap, but to the lower part of the large flap on the near side. This will leave the small flap on the near side loose, as in a man's saddle, and will allow liberty for the use of the spring bar. It will also lessen the friction against the habit and leg, by rendering the side of the saddle perfectly smooth, except the stirrup-leather. Stirrup leather. To lessen the friction from that I recommend a single thin strap, as broad as a man's stirrup-leather, instead of the present double, narrow, thick one. Of three sorts of single stirrup-leathers the smoothest is with a loop to go over the spring-bar, and with an adjusting buckle just above the stirrup-iron: or the strap may take off and on the iron by a slip loop, and passing over the spring-bar as usual, be fastened, and its length adjusted, by a loose buckle, which, though it is only attached to the strap by the tongue, is perfectly secure. For hunting I always use a single strap, sewn to the iron, with a D above the knee, and with a double strap and buckle between the D and the spring-bar. The lady's stirrup-leather, which passes under the horse's body, and is fixed to the off side of the side-saddle, is supposed to prevent the saddle from turning round. This is a mechanical error. But the great objection to this sort of stirrup-leather is, that it cannot with safety be used with the spring-bar; for when off the bar it remains attached to the saddle, and acts as a scourge to the horse. I once saw a frightful instance of this. Stirrup-iron. The lady's stirrup-iron should be in all respects the same as a man's, and, to make assurance doubly sure, it should open at the side with a spring. This might be useful in case of a fall on the off side, when the action of the spring-bar of the saddle might be impeded. But if the stirrup is large and heavy, it is next to impossible that the foot should be caught by it. It is the common error to suppose that persons are dragged owing to the stirrup being too large and the foot passing through it, but the reason is its being too small and light, it then sticks to the foot and clasps it by the pressure of the upper part of the stirrup above the foot, and the lower part on the sole of the foot.

Girthing. A side-saddle should be girthed very tightly, since a lady sits only by the saddle. The girths should always be felt after the weight of the rider is in the saddle. The girths of a man's saddle should never be tight. The inner girth only should loosely hold the saddle; the outer girth is merely a safety girth, in case of the inner one giving. This is of consequence for the horse's breathing in galloping, since his ribs must expand every time he inhales, or draws breath.

To avoid buckles of girths. I think that one holder on each side of a man's saddle should be placed as far forward, and one on each side as far backward, as possible without showing beyond the outside stirrup flap. This separates the buckles of the girths, and makes a smooth flat bearing for the thigh of the rider. The girths must cross from the front holder on one side to the back holder on the other; or they may be passed through a loose loop below to prevent their separating. The double-stirrup leather and the riding exactly on the buckles of the girths, are great abominations. I go farther in this way myself, and cut off the inside girth flap immediately below the tree of the saddle. It is wholly unnecessary when the buckles of the girths are removed from under the weight of the rider. The absence of this inner girth-flap gives a much firmer, and to me a much pleasanter, seat; while to the horse the saddle is much cooler, and a little lighter. If, on trial, this is not liked, the girth-flap is easily sewed on again, or the holders are still more easily replaced. It is very rash to recommend even the smallest possible change which one has not tested well; and I have never tried dividing the girth buckles with the side-saddle. But I should think that if they were divided on the near side only, with a loop to keep the girths together below, it might be an improvement.

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